Mmkay, first RMT. This'll probably ruin me, but you know what? Screw it.
Soooo teambuilding process or whatever. After ye olde theme team of triple legendary doges started to fail...a lot... (see trick room tini replay #1 in The Next Best Thing... thread) I decided it was time for a change of pace. I needed a real team. And you know who's real? Lucario.
So looking at Lucario's weaknesses, I realized a Dragon/flying type would cover all of them. So, seeing the perfect opportunity to use my namesake, I threw on the one, the only, FlederMau5 the Noivern. As it turns out, Lucario also resists all of Noivern's weaknesses.
So at this point I felt I had a free pick. Swampert seemed good, its only weakness being covered by the other two, and it could set up rocks to soften up the opposing team for a Lucario sweep.
Swampert's great and all, but it can't recover and doesn't appreciate status, and neither does Lucario, so I needed a cleric. I chose Florges because screw Hydreigon. (I have slightly more reasoning than that, but like, honestly)
So now I felt I needed a wall breaker, Lucario can't bust through everything, even with life orb, and Victini is one of the best.
Lastly, with two stealth rock weaknesses, hazard removal became mandatory. Mega Blastoise seemed solid, even though he adds another grass weakness, his raw power is invaluable.
So there it could have ended, but with some testing, Lucario proved difficult to set up with due to his frailty. And his speed tier was disappointing, often forcing you off using STABs to extreme speed, which rarely proved to be enough. And then it hit me! Cobalion! He shares Lucario's typing and ability (well only one, but the most viable one, Justified), along with sporting much better overall bulk and speed. So a swap was made, battles had, and here we are, 4 B rated pokes in the viability thread and randomly an S and A one. The B Team:
New Meta! (Cobalion) @ Life orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
The sweeper himself, Cobalion. Naturally, SD for boosting his attack to actually threatening levels. (look, I can't even deny his unboosted attack is pretty meh, even with no investment his defense stat is higher) This feat is not too difficult given his excellent defenses, but still, remember LO recoil, so chose set up opportunities wisely. The best time to do so is after scarfers have been removed as he lacks any priority. Moveset lets him dismantle most common walls, even the pink core. Unboosted CC OHKOs Blissey, unboosted Iron Head 2HKOs Aromatisse, and +2 X-Scissor 2HKOs Slowbro. Sitting at 108 base speed he outpaces many common offensive threats like Hydreigon, Honchkrow, Lucario, Victini, and Haxorus, and can plow through them after boosting. (he can also KO some of them before boosting) Justified gives free attack boosts every so often, which is just nice to have. Sweeping isn't always necessary either, sometimes just weakening the opposing team lets FlederMau5 come in and clean up with Draco.
Weakness resisters: Fighting: Noivern, Victini, Florges
Ground: Noivern
Fire: Noivern, Victini, Blastoise, Swampert
FlederMau5 (Noivern) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inflitrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Flamethrower
- Switcheroo
Da namesake. FlederMau5 is too strong. He just takes dumps on the opposing team. That's all there is. And you know what? Bat guano is VERY unhealthy. Special wall gone? Time to start pressing ye-olde Draco easy button. Nice Sub ya got there too bud. Hurrimiss might seem odd, but (and sorry I don't have the calcs to prove this) air slash in testing only got a 2HKO on a bunch of things, while Hurricane OHKOed. So while the accuracy might suck, if it takes me two turns to kill a threat, well, I'm in the same place as I would be with Air slash, and 70% of the time it's just straight better. But with some relevant calcs about what Air Slash does kill, I'd be entirely willing to go back to it. (But also, confusion is way more useful than flinch imo) Other than that, flamethrower for steels, and Switcheroo is there as a check for a certain bulky sweeper *cough* Suicune *cough*. (and to randomly cripple walls lol) Basically he softens up the opposing team or cleans up late game, depends on the situation. (although late game cleaner is hard to pull off without something left to switch to to reset Draco recoil, or else you're relying on Hurricane) He's also the best switch-in when you anticipate a ground move incoming, as most users of them don't want to see the Draco dropped all over their faces and will switch out, which helps maintain some momentum.
Weakness resisters: Ice: Cobalion, Blastoise, Victini
Dragon: Florges, Cobalion
Rock: Cobalion, Swampert
The (s)Kipper (Swampert) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature (+Def -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Scald
Get it? Cause he's supposed to lead? Like a skipper does on a ship? At least, I think that's what skippers do. Whatever. He actually very rarely leads, given most people assume he will and lead with something to scare him out. Most often he switches in on an opposing wall to set up rocks, then starts yelling in people's faces to make them leave. He also is a good switch in to the always fun Fire spammers, and his STABS threaten them out, in addition to electric, poison, steel, and ground types, giving plenty more opportunities to set up rocks or rack up hazard damage through roar. His resistance to stealth rocks and reasonable offensive pressure can also provide switch-in opportunities for M-Blastoise to rapid spin away hazards, which is invaluable on a team with two SR-weak wall breakers.
Weakness resistors: Grass: Cobalion, Noivern, Victini
Roserade? (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Literally useless
EVs: 252 HP/ 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def -Atk)
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
Ok, I know what you're all going to say: "WTF, why u still use Florges? Blissey or Aromatisse is way better!"
Let me explain. I'm a noob, I don't know any better. But seriously, here's why- 112 base SpA is at least decent, even without investment. And base 154 SpD is great even with little to no investment, too. Finally, fairy typing is excellent defensively. So by maximizing her physical defense, Florges can function as a check to powerful physical fighting types, dragon types, and dark types, while also walling pretty much every special attacker and dealing respectable damage to all of them. Blissey or Aromatisse can't really pull off both of these roles. (probably, I don't really have the time nor patience to go run a bunch of calcs) Other than that, Florges is also the cleric, for keeping the team un-statused and passing wishes sometimes. Her resistances and immunity also make her a pretty good addition to the defensive synergy of the team.
Weakness resisters: Poison: Cobalion, Swampert
Steel: Cobalion, Swampert, Blastoise, Victini
Alla Dat (Victini) @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA)
- V-Create
- Bolt Strike
- U-Turn
- Zen Headbutt
So it's the dedicated wall-breaker. V-Create is the obligatory, over-the-top spam move, capable of obliterating pretty much everything except dragons and bulky waters. Bolt strike is to deal with one of those aforementioned problem types, and U-turn can grab the momentum and occasionally randomly hose Hydreigon switch ins. Zen headbutt is a check for fighting and poison types who otherwise run pretty much all over this team.
Weakness resistors: Ground: Noivern
Rock: Cobalion, Swampert
Ghost: None T-T
Water: Blastoise, Noivern
Dark: Cobalion, Florges
Broadsides (Mega Blastoise) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain dish -> Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature (+SpA -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Water Pulse
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
Probably the best rapid spinner in the tier. Dark pulse pushes past every spin blocker besides fully specially defensive Sableye, who is almost always 2HKOed by Water Pulse, and Frosslass, who isn't too common and can be dealt with pretty well through a combo of Victini U-turn into Noivern. Ice beam adds nice coverage and can randomly nail switch ins expecting Water or Dark Pulse. After Mega-Evolving his special attack reaches 405, a pretty ridiculous number that lets him stay useful in a match even after hazard setters are gone. His bulk and power also work well with Swampert's rocks, as he forces switches to rack up more damage and make a Cobalion sweep or Noivern/Victini clean up easier.
Weakness resisters: Electric: Swampert
Grass: Cobalion, Noivern, Victini
And finally, the end. Thanks for taking the time to read this crazy long thing, any advice would be appreciated!
Soooo teambuilding process or whatever. After ye olde theme team of triple legendary doges started to fail...a lot... (see trick room tini replay #1 in The Next Best Thing... thread) I decided it was time for a change of pace. I needed a real team. And you know who's real? Lucario.
So looking at Lucario's weaknesses, I realized a Dragon/flying type would cover all of them. So, seeing the perfect opportunity to use my namesake, I threw on the one, the only, FlederMau5 the Noivern. As it turns out, Lucario also resists all of Noivern's weaknesses.
So at this point I felt I had a free pick. Swampert seemed good, its only weakness being covered by the other two, and it could set up rocks to soften up the opposing team for a Lucario sweep.
Swampert's great and all, but it can't recover and doesn't appreciate status, and neither does Lucario, so I needed a cleric. I chose Florges because screw Hydreigon. (I have slightly more reasoning than that, but like, honestly)
So now I felt I needed a wall breaker, Lucario can't bust through everything, even with life orb, and Victini is one of the best.
Lastly, with two stealth rock weaknesses, hazard removal became mandatory. Mega Blastoise seemed solid, even though he adds another grass weakness, his raw power is invaluable.
So there it could have ended, but with some testing, Lucario proved difficult to set up with due to his frailty. And his speed tier was disappointing, often forcing you off using STABs to extreme speed, which rarely proved to be enough. And then it hit me! Cobalion! He shares Lucario's typing and ability (well only one, but the most viable one, Justified), along with sporting much better overall bulk and speed. So a swap was made, battles had, and here we are, 4 B rated pokes in the viability thread and randomly an S and A one. The B Team:
New Meta! (Cobalion) @ Life orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 HP/ 252 Atk/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA)
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- X-Scissor
The sweeper himself, Cobalion. Naturally, SD for boosting his attack to actually threatening levels. (look, I can't even deny his unboosted attack is pretty meh, even with no investment his defense stat is higher) This feat is not too difficult given his excellent defenses, but still, remember LO recoil, so chose set up opportunities wisely. The best time to do so is after scarfers have been removed as he lacks any priority. Moveset lets him dismantle most common walls, even the pink core. Unboosted CC OHKOs Blissey, unboosted Iron Head 2HKOs Aromatisse, and +2 X-Scissor 2HKOs Slowbro. Sitting at 108 base speed he outpaces many common offensive threats like Hydreigon, Honchkrow, Lucario, Victini, and Haxorus, and can plow through them after boosting. (he can also KO some of them before boosting) Justified gives free attack boosts every so often, which is just nice to have. Sweeping isn't always necessary either, sometimes just weakening the opposing team lets FlederMau5 come in and clean up with Draco.
Weakness resisters: Fighting: Noivern, Victini, Florges
Ground: Noivern
Fire: Noivern, Victini, Blastoise, Swampert
FlederMau5 (Noivern) (M) @ Choice Specs
Ability: Inflitrator
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD/ 252 Spe
Timid Nature (+Spe -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Hurricane
- Flamethrower
- Switcheroo
Da namesake. FlederMau5 is too strong. He just takes dumps on the opposing team. That's all there is. And you know what? Bat guano is VERY unhealthy. Special wall gone? Time to start pressing ye-olde Draco easy button. Nice Sub ya got there too bud. Hurrimiss might seem odd, but (and sorry I don't have the calcs to prove this) air slash in testing only got a 2HKO on a bunch of things, while Hurricane OHKOed. So while the accuracy might suck, if it takes me two turns to kill a threat, well, I'm in the same place as I would be with Air slash, and 70% of the time it's just straight better. But with some relevant calcs about what Air Slash does kill, I'd be entirely willing to go back to it. (But also, confusion is way more useful than flinch imo) Other than that, flamethrower for steels, and Switcheroo is there as a check for a certain bulky sweeper *cough* Suicune *cough*. (and to randomly cripple walls lol) Basically he softens up the opposing team or cleans up late game, depends on the situation. (although late game cleaner is hard to pull off without something left to switch to to reset Draco recoil, or else you're relying on Hurricane) He's also the best switch-in when you anticipate a ground move incoming, as most users of them don't want to see the Draco dropped all over their faces and will switch out, which helps maintain some momentum.
Weakness resisters: Ice: Cobalion, Blastoise, Victini
Dragon: Florges, Cobalion
Rock: Cobalion, Swampert
The (s)Kipper (Swampert) @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature (+Def -Spe)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Roar
- Scald
Get it? Cause he's supposed to lead? Like a skipper does on a ship? At least, I think that's what skippers do. Whatever. He actually very rarely leads, given most people assume he will and lead with something to scare him out. Most often he switches in on an opposing wall to set up rocks, then starts yelling in people's faces to make them leave. He also is a good switch in to the always fun Fire spammers, and his STABS threaten them out, in addition to electric, poison, steel, and ground types, giving plenty more opportunities to set up rocks or rack up hazard damage through roar. His resistance to stealth rocks and reasonable offensive pressure can also provide switch-in opportunities for M-Blastoise to rapid spin away hazards, which is invaluable on a team with two SR-weak wall breakers.
Weakness resistors: Grass: Cobalion, Noivern, Victini
Roserade? (Florges) @ Leftovers
Ability: Literally useless
EVs: 252 HP/ 232 Def / 24 SpD
Bold Nature (+Def -Atk)
- Wish
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Aromatherapy
Ok, I know what you're all going to say: "WTF, why u still use Florges? Blissey or Aromatisse is way better!"
Let me explain. I'm a noob, I don't know any better. But seriously, here's why- 112 base SpA is at least decent, even without investment. And base 154 SpD is great even with little to no investment, too. Finally, fairy typing is excellent defensively. So by maximizing her physical defense, Florges can function as a check to powerful physical fighting types, dragon types, and dark types, while also walling pretty much every special attacker and dealing respectable damage to all of them. Blissey or Aromatisse can't really pull off both of these roles. (probably, I don't really have the time nor patience to go run a bunch of calcs) Other than that, Florges is also the cleric, for keeping the team un-statused and passing wishes sometimes. Her resistances and immunity also make her a pretty good addition to the defensive synergy of the team.
Weakness resisters: Poison: Cobalion, Swampert
Steel: Cobalion, Swampert, Blastoise, Victini
Alla Dat (Victini) @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature (+Spe -SpA)
- V-Create
- Bolt Strike
- U-Turn
- Zen Headbutt
So it's the dedicated wall-breaker. V-Create is the obligatory, over-the-top spam move, capable of obliterating pretty much everything except dragons and bulky waters. Bolt strike is to deal with one of those aforementioned problem types, and U-turn can grab the momentum and occasionally randomly hose Hydreigon switch ins. Zen headbutt is a check for fighting and poison types who otherwise run pretty much all over this team.
Weakness resistors: Ground: Noivern
Rock: Cobalion, Swampert
Ghost: None T-T
Water: Blastoise, Noivern
Dark: Cobalion, Florges
Broadsides (Mega Blastoise) @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Rain dish -> Mega Launcher
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature (+SpA -Atk)
- Rapid Spin
- Water Pulse
- Dark Pulse
- Ice Beam
Probably the best rapid spinner in the tier. Dark pulse pushes past every spin blocker besides fully specially defensive Sableye, who is almost always 2HKOed by Water Pulse, and Frosslass, who isn't too common and can be dealt with pretty well through a combo of Victini U-turn into Noivern. Ice beam adds nice coverage and can randomly nail switch ins expecting Water or Dark Pulse. After Mega-Evolving his special attack reaches 405, a pretty ridiculous number that lets him stay useful in a match even after hazard setters are gone. His bulk and power also work well with Swampert's rocks, as he forces switches to rack up more damage and make a Cobalion sweep or Noivern/Victini clean up easier.
Weakness resisters: Electric: Swampert
Grass: Cobalion, Noivern, Victini
And finally, the end. Thanks for taking the time to read this crazy long thing, any advice would be appreciated!
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